Simmons: West Indies let England off the hook

West Indies coach Phil Simmons was frustrated with his team's inability to keep opposition sides down on Thursday but maintained they can win the first Test against England in Antigua.

England started the fourth day at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium at 116-3 but West Indies' hopes of dismissing the tourists quickly never eventuated, as Gary Ballance (122), Joe Root (59) and Jos Buttler (59 not out) dominated the home side's bowling attack.

The visitors retired at 333-7 five overs before the tea break, 437 runs ahead.

"England have shown us that we need to think a lot about the way we play Test cricket," Simmons said after the day's play.

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"We started well on the first morning but then we gave it away in the other two sessions.

"And the same thing happened today. We didn't bowl as well as we could have done this morning so they got away and, as a result, they have more time to bowl at us. But then we also have more time to score the runs."

Despite losing two wickets on Thursday to be 98-2, Simmons argued West Indies remain in a good position to challenge for victory on the fifth day.

Simmons had hoped his team would be 100-1 at stumps.

"We're a team that scores quickly," he said.

"We'll assess what we need in every session and make a decision whether to go for it at tea.

"The first hour will be important: we need to not lose any wickets in the first hour. But with me it's always a case of looking how you can get the runs before you look at how you can save it.

"We saw today that it's hard to take wickets on this pitch. It's easy for guys to score. We scored freely."